The Hollywoodbets Sharks will be looking to close out the first stage of the season on a high against Scarlets this Saturday before the Vodacom United Rugby Championship pauses for the autumn international window.
For centre Andre Esterhuizen, what is key for this week is teamwork and cohesion as they take lessons from last week’s game into this match.
“We didn’t perform like we wanted to, I don’t think we were cohesive enough and made too many individual errors,” he explains.
“But the boys have responded well, we took a hard look at ourselves, and it’s all about the next game against the Scarlets. We’re all looking forward to it before the break; it’s an opportunity for us to rectify things.”
And the central message?
“For everyone to get on the same page so we can play to the level we know we’re capable of. It’s no use having a superstar team if we don’t play like one – together. Everything revolves around the team, and we must stick together, whether it goes well or goes badly.
“For us, playing at home is always special. Last year, we won almost every home game, and it’s still a priority to keep our fans entertained and give them a good show.
“We love playing at home, for the fans.”
His expectations of the Scarlets are of a team that really competes and competes ferociously, and the necessity to counter that with physicality and accuracy.
“Every time we’ve played them, they’ve made the game quite messy because they like it loose and like to play off turnovers. We expect a hard, physical battle; it’s always like that against the Welsh sides, they have a lot of flair, so we need to counter that and play to our strengths.”